Spotlight: CXO movements this week (Nov 25—Dec 1)

The week (November 25—December 1, 2023) saw several CXO movements in the technology industry with some of the major appointments in key business positions. While IT companies like Infosys and Persistent Systems made important new announcements in their leadership teams, movement also happened in non-technology companies' tech leadership including BYJU'S, Simpolo Ceramics and Karam Chand Thapar & Bros. (KCT) Group. Here’s the roundup. 

Jiny Thattil promoted as BYJU’S CTO following Anil Goel's exit

Edtech company BYJU'S has promoted Jiny Thattil to the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) following the departure of Anil Goel, who served as CTO for three years. Thattil, previously the Senior Vice President of Engineering at Byju's, will now oversee the organisation's technological initiatives. He joined BYJU'S in 2020 and initially led the engineering team before taking on a senior role at Epic, a startup acquired by Byju's. With a career spanning over 25 years in the software industry, Thattil had worked at Happay, Amazon, and InMobi. Goel, a former executive at Amazon, was reportedly one of the highest-paid CTOs in the country. An Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode alum, Mohan was part of BYJU'S founding team. He previously served as Chief Business Officer before becoming CEO of upGrad in 2020.  (Read more)

Infosys appoints ex-Accenture leader Rajesh Prasad Chaurasia 

Global technology consulting and services company Infosys has announced the appointment of Rajesh Prasad Chaurasia as its new Associate Vice President, overseeing engineering services for aerospace, automotive, discrete, and turbo machinery domains in Europe. In his new role Chaurasia will support clients in their digital transformation journey in the engineering and manufacturing domain in Europe. His focus will centre on digital thread and digital twin technologies. Chaurasia joins Infosys from Accenture Industry X, where he led the aerospace and defense domain while managing key clients in the automotive and discrete manufacturing sectors. This marks his second stint with Infosys, building on his previous 12-year tenure from 2006. During that period, he played a pivotal role in establishing the TMP practice and expanding the company's product lifecycle management (PLM) portfolio. Chaurasia also served as the Engineering Engagement Manager, fostering relationships with global clients across Europe and the Americas in energy, transport, heavy industry, and aerospace. (Read more)

Badar Afaq joins KCT Group as Group Head IT

Badar Afaq has joined Karam Chand Thapar & Bros. (KCT) Group, one of India's largest coal logistics companies as Group Head of Information Technology (IT). He joins from Antara Senior Care (Max India Group) where he served as VP & Head IT. He was earlier associated with The Lemon Tree Hotel Company, ITC — Fortune Hotels, DLF Group, Radisson Hotel Delhi and Usha Group Company. Badar, who has over 20 years of experience in IT, communications and computer applications. Badar has done his MBA in information technology and post-graduation and graduation in computer applications, from Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi. He has also completed Global chief information officer (CIO) programme from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and Indian School of business (ISB) Hyderabad.

Manish Chandegara joins Simpolo Ceramics as CIO

Manish Chandegara has taken on the role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Simpolo Ceramics, a leading manufacturer of Vitrified tiles, wall tiles, and sanitary ware in India. He joins the company from CERA Sanitaryware. Chandegara, with over 25 years of experience in IT and Communication Systems management, will spearhead key responsibilities at Simpolo, including Customer Relationship Management (CRM), SAP Implementation, Team Leadership, and overall IT Management. His expertise lies in business process analysis and design, process re-engineering, cost control, capacity planning, performance measurement, and quality. Prior to joining Simpolo, Chandegara held the role of CIO at CERA Sanitaryware, overseeing Infrastructure & ERP Project Management. There, he successfully implemented numerous IT Infrastructure and ERP (SAP) projects and played a crucial role in driving operations and management. (Read more)

Nive Bhagat is Capgemini’s new CFO

IT company Capgemini has announced the appointment of Nive Bhagat as the group chief financial officer (CFO) and member of the group executive board, effective January 1, 2024. Bhagat succeeds Carole Ferrand who served from 2018 and now plans to pursue other career opportunities. Bhagat has been with Capgemini for the last 13 years and last serves as the chief executive officer of the cloud and infrastructure services. Prior to Capgemini, she was worked for several years at Infosys Technologies heading Enterprise Solutions in Europe. She has also worked in Corporate Finance with KPMG.

Persistent Systems gets new COO

Digital engineering firm Persistent Systems has announced the appointment of Dhanashree Bhat as the chief operating officer. In this role, Bhat will be leading IT, administration and facilities, learning and development, enterprise risk management, and delivery excellence. Bhat started her career at Tech Mahindra, where she served for over two decades. Her last position was that of chief delivery officer (telecom, media, and technology group). “Dhanashree’s service delivery rigor combined with her deep operations experience will further strengthen Persistent’s service delivery,” a company statement said. (Read more)